Schumer, Kaine, Paul, Shaheen, & Wyden Announce Upcoming Vote on Bipartisan Legislation to Challenge Trump’s Tariffs on Brazil
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), , U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced that the Senate will vote this evening on their bipartisan legislation to challenge President Donald Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA) tariffs on billions of dollars of goods from Brazil. The vote comes shortly after newly released inflation data showed that consumer prices rose in September at their fastest pace in eight months. The legislation needs a simple majority of votes in the Senate to pass.
“President Trump’s tariffs on Brazilian goods, which he imposed in an attempt to stop Brazil’s prosecution of one of his friends, are outrageous,” said Kaine, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. “Prices for all kinds of everyday goods—including coffee, much of which is imported from Brazil—are climbing. We must stop Trump from starting these incompetent and chaotic trade wars that are weakening our economy. I urge all of my colleagues to stand up for the principle that our economic policy should advance Americans’ best interests, not ridiculous personal grievances.”
“I am alarmed by the Brazilian government’s persecution of a former president and authoritarian repression of freedom of speech, but that has no bearing on the constitutional limits of our own executive,” said Paul. “The President of the United States does not have the authority under IEEPA to unilaterally impose tariffs. Trade policy belongs to Congress, not the White House.”
“American families are being devastated by skyrocketing prices, job loss and an economy frozen by Trump's increasingly erratic tariff tantrums. And how is President Trump responding? By wielding his trade war not to cut costs but to advance his petty political agendas,” said Leader Schumer. “Trump instituted the fake ‘emergency declaration’ against Brazil, with which we have a trade surplus, following the prosecution of his ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro. Now, a vote is set and the choice for Congressional Republicans is clear: join with Senate Democrats to end this cost-spiking madness and stand up to Trump’s tariff tax – or continue to let Trump play politics with Americans’ livelihoods and pocketbooks.”
“Trump is making Americans pay more for coffee, hamburgers and housing in order to pressure Brazil to let their corrupt former president off the hook. This is a brazenly illegal effort by Donald Trump to sacrifice our economy to settle his own personal scores, and it is far outside his legal authority,” said Wyden. “I’m proud to support this effort by Sen. Kaine to strike down Trump’s illegal trade taxes on products from Brazil.”
Specifically, the legislation would terminate the July 30 emergency declaration and eliminate the tariffs on Brazilian imports implemented as a result. President Trump’s order cited the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), and any one senator can challenge the use of IEEPA.
Americans import more than $40 billion annually from Brazil, including nearly $2 billion’s worth of coffee, a product that cannot be grown in most of the United States. Trade between the U.S. and Brazil supports nearly 130,000 jobs in the U.S., and the U.S. has a trade surplus with Brazil. A trade war with Brazil would raise costs for Americans, harm both the American and Brazilian economies, and drive Brazil closer to China.
The legislation is supported by the National Association of Women Owned Businesses (NAWBO), Mainstreet Alliance, National Taxpayers Union, Small Business Majority, Public Citizen, National Retail Federation, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA), and Foreign Policy for America (FP4A).
In addition to Schumer, Kaine, Paul, Shaheen and Wyden, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Angus King (I-ME), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Full text of the legislation is available here.
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